Serbian Progressive Party/Historical

The Serbian Progressive Party was a conservative-liberal political party in Serbia that was active from 1881 to 1919. The party was founded by Western-trained conservative intellectuals who served on the editorial board of the Serbian journal Videlo, which advocated freedom of speech, freedom of associations, full personal protection and protection of property rights, constitutional responsibility of cabinet ministers, access of experts to the National Assembly, full independence of the Judiciary, and the autonomy of municipalities. Rather than take up a pro-Russian Empire stance, the party instead supported close relations with Austria-Hungary. The party introduced modern institutions and progressive laws, but it was often forced to choose between democracy and freedoms, leading to the party being closely tied to the ruler. By party founder Milutin Garasanin's death in 1898, the party ceased to exist in organizational terms, but it was renewed in 1916. The party dissolved in 1918 and merged into the Democratic Party of Yugoslavia.